Not Quite Perfection
by RoseFyre
Summary: It's impossible to avoid anyone at Hogwarts. Regulus Black hates that fact.


It's impossible to avoid anyone at Hogwarts.

Regulus Black hates that fact.

As a fifth year Slytherin, he'd expect not to notice a sixth year Gryffindor, but that's not the case. After all, he supposes, the hallways don't belong to anyone; nor does the courtyard outside, nor the Quidditch Pitch, nor the library, and most certainly not the Great Hall.

And every time he sees his brother (no, not his brother anymore, not according to Mother or Cousin Bella or the burned out hole on the family tapestry that used to read Sirius Black), he can't stop himself from watching.

Sirius (Black, call him Black, he's not Sirius anymore) is always with his friends.

And they're good friends too, despite the bit at the middle of the year, right before the Christmas holidays, when Potter and Pettigrew were avoiding Sirius and Lupin acted like he didn't exist, which they've all obviously made up now (though Regulus still sometimes notices Sirius saying something, then noticing a frown on Lupin's face, and taking back whatever he said before, usually something anti-Slytherin or specifically anti-Snape), especially as, as far as he knows, Sirius is living at Potter's house and has been living there since he ran away on Christmas Day.

If Regulus ran away, he'd be on his own.

Not that Regulus wants to run away, of course. He likes being the heir to the Black family, now that Sirius has been blasted off the tapestry, now that Bella's a Lestrange and Narcissa's a Malfoy in everything but name and Andromeda (who used to read them and Narcissa stories and tuck them into bed when Mother was busy and Bella couldn't be bothered) is blasted off as well, married to a Mudblood with a Mudblood brat. He likes how the other Slytherins take much more notice of him, how even Narcissa, who's a seventh year, beautiful and popular and about to be married to Lucius Malfoy as soon as she finishes Hogwarts, asks his opinions on matters of Slytherin politics and all sorts of other things. He likes how Slughorn praises him in class, taking him aside for all sorts of extra tips on life in and after Hogwarts.

He especially likes how Severus Snape (who, even though he's a half-blood, is quite a good sort, having disowned his Muggle father as much as it's possible to do, and, well, really, the Princes are quite an old family, though not as old as the Blacks) came up to him one day and said, "So, Black, I hear your family finally got rid of…_him_." The sneer is his voice was palpable. "Good choice."

And yet, despite all that, Regulus Black still misses his older brother, misses how Sirius always stood between him and Mother, refusing to let Regulus get berated in the same way as he always was. He misses how Sirius threatened to fight Bella if she ever used Regulus as a practice dummy for her curses again, despite the fact that Sirius was 10 at the time and with only Grandfather Pollux's old wand, which didn't always work quite right, while Bella was 16 and the best dueler in Slytherin House.

So it's not really all that surprising that, even though Regulus hates that he can't avoid his brother, he also likes it, and even goes out of his way (not too much, or he won't be able to fool himself into believing that he hates Sirius and is perfectly happy ignoring him for the next year and a bit they've got together at Hogwarts) to walk alone or in smaller groups towards the edges of Gryffindor territory. Of course, the Slytherins don't know exactly where the Gryffindor common room is, but when so many pranks happen to Slytherins who pass by a certain corridor on the seventh floor, it's obvious that the entrance must be somewhere near there.

And on one of those days, when he's walking alone, he manages to run into Sirius.

Quite literally, in fact.

Sirius is alone as well, and he shifts from foot to foot as he realizes that he just crashed into his used-to-be brother. "Sorry," he says quickly, bending over to pick up his bag and the books that have scattered all over the hallway.

"No, it's as much my fault as yours," Regulus answers, kneeling on the cold stone floor, straightening out pieces of parchment covered in homework assignments, parchments which are no longer nearly as organized as they usually are.

Sirius looks up, clearly surprised, then down again, shoving a parchment into a book and then the book into his bag. "I…how are things at home?" he asks awkwardly, not looking up.

"Why would you care?" Regulus replies bitterly. He hides his curiosity, but it's there, under the surface.

Sirius flinches. "I just…" He takes a deep breath. "I just want you to know that…that my promises are still good. If Bella curses you, I'll take her out."

Regulus looks up at this, a bit startled by his brother's words. "Why did you leave?" The words come out before he even notices, before he can even guess what he's going to say.

"It all…got to be too much. With Mother ranting about pureblood superiority and those upstart Mudbloods, and Bella gushing about the new dark lord, and Lucius discussing the werewolf laws…it just got to be too much. I couldn't stay there any longer and pretend I'm something I'm not. I'm a Gryffindor and a Mudblood-lover, and if they can't deal with that, well, it's their own problem." He looks shrewdly at Regulus. "If you ever want to leave-"

Regulus cuts him off. "No. I have no interest in leaving. I like being the Black heir."

Sirius shrugs, as though what Regulus just said isn't the truth and they both know it, even though of course it's the truth, and of course Regulus likes being a Black, and of course he has no interest at all in following in Sirius and Andromeda's footsteps and leaving the family. "Still, if you ever do get the urge to, you'll have a place with me."

"I…" He's about to say thank you, when he notices a figure down the hall. "No thanks, blood traitor," he hisses, and the look of shock on Sirius's face would be priceless if he were Snape or Mother or even Narcissa, who smiles nastily as she watches the scene.

And then Sirius obviously realizes what's happened, and he hastily puts his last quill in his bag and stands up. "Fuck off, bastard."

And Regulus closes his eyes, unwilling to watch his brother (even if he's not really his brother anymore) get hexed by his cousin, who says "Petrificus Totalus" and smirks at Regulus as she tosses her hair and passes them in the hallway.

Regulus finishes placing his books in his bag, then turns and follows Narcissa's path. Just as he's about to turn the corner, he looks back to see his brother's eyes following him, even though the rest of him can't move. He glances around – Narcissa is long gone and no one else is around. "Finite Incantatem," he whispers.

Sirius raises an eyebrow, and he raises one back, then nods his head and turns the corner.

It's impossible to avoid anyone at Hogwarts.

But sometimes, that's not as horrible as it seems.

**oOo**

**Author's Note: **Written in 2006 for Gen Ficathon, not compliant with DH.


End file.
